Sermons on Acts (Page 4)
Spirit and Systems
Continuing in the season of Pentecost, this sermon follows up on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, with teaching on how the early church reimagined life together as a multiethnic community, confronted opposition from the broader society, and challenges from within. Two of the challenges from within were some self-interested disciples centering themselves while lying to the Holy Spirit, and ethnic discrimination within the system of food distribution. The Holy Spirit gave the early church the wisdom…
Breath and Fire
This sermon is about the liberating power of the Holy Spirit, who is symbolized by breath and fire. This message is also about Jesus, who was crushed by the unjust power of empire, just like George Floyd. And this message is about the alternative society of shalom God is forming among the ethnically diverse body of Christ.
The Disturbing Way of Jesus
In Acts 19, we read the account of Paul’s time in Ephesus establishing a church there. In three key passages in that chapter, we see three ways the Way of Jesus disturbs the status quo. In verses 8-10, we see that Paul’s radical Gospel of equality and unity among all ethnic groups led to the maligning of the Jesus Way. The Jesus Way disturbs our walls of hostility (Ephesians 2.14-16). Then, in verses 14-16, we see that the Jesus Way…
The Non-transactional Spirit
In Acts 8, there are two main figures on which the narrative focuses: Simon, the Sorcerer, and Philip, the apostle. In these two we see contrasted two approaches to Christian faith. One views faith as a transaction, a quid-pro-quo. The other views faith as a movement of the Spirit as a witness to Jesus. Transactional faith is very common in Western forms of Christianity. In this message, Andrea Roles helps us to recognize the difference and to move toward God’s…
God’s Mission, Not the Twelve’s
Jesus instructed his Galilean disciples in Acts 1:8 to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. However, when the Twelve are slow to carry God’s mission beyond Jerusalem, God uses Hellenistic Jews Stephen and Philip (who were delegated for food distribution) to preach and evangelize in and outside of Jerusalem.